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IndyCar teams take first steps of new season at Sebring test

December 11, 2012

IndyCar Series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay took part in testing on Wednesday before heading to Bangkok for the annual Race of Champions on Saturday. Photo by John Hendrick

Ryan Hunter-Reay said he has been congratulated by strangers in airports, recognized exponentially at home and Indianapolis where his Andretti Autosport team is based since winning his first IndyCar championship last year.

On Wednesday at Sebring International Raceway, however, during a rain-induced lunch break that interrupted testing, he had to identify himself to the bare-armed man working the takeout window of the Snack Shack as not to have to find $7 in his bright yellow fire suit to pay for his grilled chicken sandwich.

Ah, well. Baby steps. Hunter-Reay was far more concerned, anyway, with cramming as much testing on the 1.65-mile road course as possible before making a hasty exit for a trip to Bangkok, Thailand, where he will participate in the annual Race of Champions on Saturday. Storms left more time for eating than testing.

Drivers and teams came to Sebring last year, Hunter-Reay said, with the new DW12 race car and three new engines as enigmas, and much remains to learn with strict limits currently on testing.

“Last time we were here, there was so much on our plate, so much to tackle,” said Hunter-Reay, who entered the final race of the 2012 season 17 points behind Will Power and used the Penske driver's crash at Fontana to snatch the title with a fourth-place finish. “We could only get to the major items heading to St. Pete. Now, we still have a massive amount of stuff we need to do at this test, but we're really fine-tuning this car now.

“Obviously Chevy, the engine manufacturers are coming out with different things they want to try, whether it be drivability, boost maps, throttle maps, different approaches, fuel conservation approaches. We have a lot of stuff we need to try in the car that we just never had the opportunity to test full circle last year.”

Graham Rahal, in his second day of testing with Rahal Letterman Lanigan, concurred, saying, “When you get in season it's very hard to do anything out of the ordinary.” Exploitable areas remain, he said, for smaller teams to stay competitive with the power teams of Penske, Ganassi and Andretti, which combined to win 13 of 15 races last season.

“There's a lot of room, and quite frankly I feel pretty confident that we will be pretty strong here,” Rahal said. “I jumped in the car here yesterday and I was impressed, my first feelings. Heck, they were close a lot last year with [Takuma] Sato.”

Power said he and teammate Helio Castroneves spent the rain-shortened session applying and reconfirming concepts learned last season, but seemed frustrated that current rules do not allow for greater leaps from larger organizations.

“The fact is that [smaller teams] can [make gains] because we have all the resources, but we can't use them,” he said. “That's why they are right there with us.”

Power said that while he understands the need for cost-containment, he wishes “they'd actually open the rules up a little bit and make it a bit more fun for the engineers,” particularly involving body work and gearboxes.

Hunter-Reay left Sebring via helicopter around 5 p.m. Wednesday to catch an 8 p.m. flight from Miami to London, where he would connect to Bangkok and the international showcase of racing in identically prepared cars.

“I feel like I’m flying the wrong way around the world, but I need to look at a map,” he said. “It’s Miami to London, eight and a half hours, three-hour layover, 12-hour flight to Bangkok. Thursday I spent in the air. I miss a whole day.”